Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/682623
43 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 MAY 2016 Banif's new sports and social committee off to cracking start A new Banif Sports and Social Committee means new ideas, new experiences and certainly lots of new adventures for the Banif team! Every year, an internal election is held to choose members for the Banif Sports and Social Commit- tee, responsible for plan- ning and executing social events for the Banif team, fam- ily and friends throughout the year. Activities are al- ways very varied, from sports and adventure to culture, social or philanthropic, with the highlights being the eagerly anticipated summer, Christmas and children's par- ties. This year's committee is comprised of six employees from different departments around the Bank – Christian Attard, Patrick Bartolo, Noemi Cavallaro, Karl Dingli, Adrian Spiteri and Ann Marie Zammit. The calendar of events kicked off with a private walking tour around the quaint alleyways of Rabat and Mdina. Ticking off many cultural and educational boxes, the tour gave the Banif team and guests an insight into the history and architecture of the storied locations. The walk took them by many palazzos and the old stores known as Magazzini before proceeding through Greek's gate for nibbles and drinks at Palazzo de Piro. "Events like this are a great way for the team to get together and share new experiences in a different environment," said Adrian Spiteri, a mem- ber of this year's Committee. "Being part of the Committee also means that we get a taste of things like event planning, logis- tics and public relations which we would not as part of our usual duties. We have met up a couple of times already now and we are glad to say that we have some fan- tastic teambuilding events lined up for our colleagues this year!" Coca-Cola Life arrives on shelves in Malta THE General Soft Drinks Co. Ltd announced that Coca-Cola Life is now produced and being distributed through GSD Mar- keting Ltd in Malta and Gozo. The newest addition to the Coca-Cola family has the great taste you would expect from a Coca-Cola but with 36% less calories and the sweetness com- ing from natural sources. The launch of Coca-Cola Life is part of The Coca-Cola Com- pany's global commitment to of- fer consumers more choices with less or no calories. Sweetened with a blend of sugar and stevia extract, a 500-ml PET bottle of Coca-Cola Life contains 135k calories. The launch of Coca- Cola Life provides consumers in Malta even greater choice: Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Life with one-third less calories and two calorie-free alternatives with Coca-Cola Zero and Diet Coke. Coca-Cola life is the first new Coca-Cola to launch in Malta since Coca-Cola Zero in 2007. "We are pleased to be adding Coca-Cola Life to our portfo- lio of Coca-Cola in Malta," says GSD's Chief Operating Officer Maria Micallef. "It complements our existing brands and is well positioned to meet the chang- ing lifestyle trends by providing consumers a tasty cola drink with less calories and sweetness from natural sources." There is a growing interest worldwide in new ingredients like steviol glycosides, naturally contained in the leaves of stevia plant, providing sweetness from natural source. Stevia plant is native to Paraguay. Sweeten- ers made from stevia plant are calorie-free and up to 200 times sweeter than table sugar. Coca-Cola Life brings years of experience in product inno- vation, consumer taste studies, and product testing, so as to provide consumers with a re- duced caloric beverage, without sacrificing the taste. "For consumers looking to reduce their sugar and calo- rie intake but do not want to switch to a sugar-free cola, this is a great-tasting option," said GSD General Manager Brian Galea. "In the markets where it has already been introduced, Coca-Cola Life was really well received. And although it's still early days, we're delighted with people's reactions to it so far in Malta." GasanMamo: '20 marathons for 20 beds' GASANM A MO Insurance con- tinually strives to support great causes that have a positive ben- efit for the wider community. The company recently demon- strated this passion, by lending their support to Chris Mamo's initiative '20 Marathons in 20 Days for 20 Beds', by sponsoring a bed for the charity event. Chris Mamo – a thirty-three year-old Anglo-Maltese personal trainer, who spent twelve years in the British Armed Forces – teamed- up with Dr Klown to raise funds for twenty new beds across the four paediatric wards of Mater Dei Hospital. In an effort to make a difficult time slightly more bearable, by giving parents of hospitalised children a better night's sleep, Chris Mamo ran twenty mara- thons across the Island dur- ing March and April. As Chris Mamo said on his fund-raising page, "Having one of your chil- dren hospitalised for a length of time is hard enough for any par- ent, but adding restless nights does make the situation even more difficult than it already is! It was clear that parents spend- ing the night, a week, or a few months with their hospitalised child would benefit from wall- mounted pull-down beds". "It didn't take us very long to get behind this wonderful cause" said Julian J. Mamo, Managing Director at GasanMamo. "Sick children are one of the most vulnerable groups in our com- munity, and Chris's initiative is a brilliant way of bringing the community together to help the families of hospitalised chil- dren". Inspired by Patch Adams (1998) – a semi-autobiographi- cal film about American physi- cian, comedian, author and all- around clown, Hunter "Patch " Adams – Dr Klown is a non- governmental organisation op- erating from Mater Dei Hospi- tal. Set-up in 2010 by a group of like-minded individuals endeav- ouring to bring joy, laughter and smiles to the faces of sick chil- dren, Dr Klown ascribes to the age-old tenant that "laughter is the best medicine". Clown doc- tors are not doctors, but vol- unteers who under-go rigorous training to entertain sick chil- dren, and bring laughter to their families and hospital staff, dur- ing a difficult time. Throughout the twenty marathons, Chris Mamo was cheered-along by Dr Klown volunteers. GasanMamo is a big advocate of Corporate Social Responsi- bility, believing that by giving back to people they are enrich- ing the lives of the greater com- munity. For more information, log on to www.gasanmamo.com Musical evening with tenor Nico Darmanin MEMBERS and friends of the Grand Commandery of the Cas- tello (GCC), a jurisdiction of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem based in Mensija, San Ġwann, were treated to an enchanting musical evening at St James Cavalier by Maltese tenor Nico Darmanin. Accompanied by Italian pianist Leonardo Barilaro, Nico Darmanin entertained the audience with a selection of some favourite romantic songs and arias. Supported by the baroque Palazzo Prince D'Orange (www.palaz- zoprincemalta.com), situated in St Paul's Street, Valletta, the perfor- mance was followed by a reception. Proceeds went towards organisa- tions assisting lepers in India. The GCC's charity fund focusses on assisting organisations working for lepers in India and Ethiopia. One such organisation is Women in Need. Further information from: http://grandcommanderymalta.org President and Artistic Director of the Cyprus Academy of Music Yiannis Had- jiloizou, Cypriot soprano Aliki Chrysochou, Leonardo Barilaro, Nico Darmanin, Conway Wigg and Carmel Bonello YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Marathon man Chris Mamo